


The World Awaits Us

by secondalto



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, Fluff and Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-26
Updated: 2017-02-26
Packaged: 2018-09-27 01:53:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9945182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/secondalto/pseuds/secondalto
Summary: Two soul marks, now what?





	

**Author's Note:**

> In the same universe as [Hold You So Close](http://archiveofourown.org/works/2774759) but can stand alone. All you need to know is that a person's words come into focus when they are who they're meant to be. The marks fade when your mate dies.
> 
> For Sage who was my highest bidder in the Fandom Trumps Hate auction. Thank you for the flexibility in prompts and pairings, for your patience as I battled RL and writers block. I hope you enjoy this.
> 
> With thanks to Citymusings for beta work, all remaining mistakes are my own.

He has two marks now.

When Steve crashed the Valkyrie into the ice, all he had was they grey blob on his chest where Bucky’s words had been. ‘Looked like you needed the help, punk’ had started to fade after Bucky had fallen. Steve had wanted to mourn, but there hadn’t been time.

Now, here he was, at some secret SHIELD apartment, looking over his body in the bathroom mirror. There were two grey blobs that would eventually turn into the words of his soul mates. He couldn’t imagine it. Couldn’t believe that somewhere out there in this confusing modern world there were two people who would love him as much as he had still loved Bucky the day he’d crashed.

He ran a hand over each of the marks. One was on his left shoulder, the other over his heart. Bucky’s mark had been on his ass. Buck had joked that it was because he was forever keeping an eye on that particular body part. Steve smiled remembering the jibes he’d gotten when Bucky had found out. Bucky had had Steve’s mark on his chest. (You didn’t have to help me.)

With a sad smile, Steve pulled on a shirt, covering the nebulous grey blobs that would become his new words. If he was going to meet them, whoever they were, he’d have to start living in this world. He finished getting dressed. Time to see what exactly Nick Fury wanted of him.

*~*~*~*~*~*~

Darcy Lewis has known from the moment she could comprehend what soul marks were that she was special. That’s because she has two of them. Mama told her to keep it to herself for as long as she could. Mama said other people would be jealous, call her names because she had two marks. Mama wasn’t wrong.

High school wasn’t kind to her, especially during gym. Of course it didn’t help that during the summer Darcy turned fifteen she’d gone and developed the Boobs of Doom. She learned quick how to defend herself. By the time she got to Culver she’d acquired a taser. She invested in mark covering make-up when she could afford it.  Darcy Lewis learned to adapt. She was good at adapting.

So when it came to finding six credits she needed to have in science, Darcy leapt at the chance to take Foster’s internship.  It turned out that the astrophysicist had a reputation for being… out there, which meant Darcy was the only applicant for the position. Little did she know that accepting the offer would change her life in so many ways.

*~*~*~*~*~

Steve has heard a lot of stories about people finding their soul mates.  The first had been his Ma telling him how she’d known his Pa was her soul mate. He heard stories from the neighbors growing up. Tales of first loves, first words, coincidental meetings, and arranged marriages that turned out to be the universe’s way of getting people together.  In the barracks the soldiers had traded stories. Steve had lied about who is soul mate was and what the words were.

The Commandos had regaled each other with how they’d met their respective mates during long cold nights in the field. Monty had met his wife during a friend’s party. Jim had met his at the beach. Dernier’s partner had nearly tripped over him. Gabe hadn’t met his yet, but his words had come into focus a week before the train incident.

So after the fight with Chitauri, Steve was pleasantly surprised to witness Clint find his Ginny. Or Pepper. He’d get names sorted out later. Natasha led him gently away as the two reunited. He smiled as he went.

“That was beautiful,” he said quietly.

“Oh, yeah, they’re soul mates. And childhood sweethearts,” Tony said “Soul mates, they’re…”

“I know what soul mates are, Tony,” he replied quickly. “They aren’t a modern invention. I had one.” He wasn’t about to tell anyone about his new marks.

Tony’s face lit up. “Was it Peggy? Or, no, one of the chorus girls?” he asked.

“Tony, it’s none of your business,” Pepper chided as she and Clint came into the room.

“Congratulations on finding each other. Again,” Steve said.

“Thank you, Steve. Now, let’s deal with the aftermath of what happened,” she said, guiding them to a table.

Steve could see why she was the CEO of Tony’s company. She reminded him a little of Peggy; tough, no nonsense, and beautiful. He wondered if one of his new soul mates would be a woman like that. Putting that out of his mind, he turned to pay attention to the meeting.

*~*~*~*~*~*

A non-comprehensive list of things that Darcy Lewis has done since accepting an internship with Doctor Jane Foster (in no particular order):

Travelled to the exciting and stimulating city of Tromso, Norway. (Please god never let her ever set foot in that godforsaken place ever again.)

Tased an alien/Norse god.

Helped prove that the Einstein-Rosen bridge really did exist. (And boy howdy was it pretty and powerful.)

Been flirted at by a different alien/Norse god.

Learned to decipher astrophysicist (or maybe just Jane’s chicken scratch handwriting).

Travelled to New York via a Stark Jet.

Hacked into the New Mexico MVD data base to create a fake ID.

Earned the six science credits and graduated with honors from Culver.

Met her heroine and goddess in Prada, Pepper Potts. (thankfully she hadn’t completely made a fool of herself, but it had been a close call.)

Witnessed Jane and Thor realize they were soulmates.

Met  four of the six Avengers.

Or at least that’s what the press had called them. Darcy wasn’t entirely sure that was accurate until **the** Tony Stark had welcomed her to Avengers Tower.  They’d been met in the garage by security who’d fingerprinted and voice printed them before allowing them into the elevator. Once in the elevator, JARVIS had introduced himself and explained why all the precaution was necessary.

Once deposited into the lobby, Tony and Pepper had been there to greet them, show them where their rooms were, and where Jane’s lab was going to be. All of Jane’s equipment was there, boxed up, waiting to be set up. Darcy had had to explain to Tony that  no, Jane didn’t need upgrades, this equipment worked just fine thank you, but if you just so happened to have this list of spare parts lying around it’d be great.

That night at dinner she met Natasha and Clint. She looked at Clint across the table, brow furrowing.

“Weren’t you one of the jack booted thugs in Antigo?” she asked.

Clint nodded. “I was there to try and take Thor down,” he said. “Course we didn’t know who or what he was at the time. Stuck around to help supervise the clean up before I was shipped… elsewhere. How did you recognize me, I usually blend in better.”

“Hard to forget those arms,” Darcy replied, grinning.

“Flirt all you like, but I’m taken,” Clint said, reaching a hand out to Pepper.

Darcy and Jane both cooed. Natasha snorted. Tony just rolled his eyes.

“Anyway,” Tony said. “Glad to have you here, Foster. Wish Bruce was here; he really admires your work.”

“Where is Doctor Banner?” Jane asked.

“Brucie boy is off sleeping a rage monster incident,” Tony replied. “Small lab accident, but no one was hurt. I managed to talk Big Green down.”

“How did you manage that?” Darcy asked.

“Oh, he and his normal half are my soul mates. Don’t ask me how that works,” Tony offered. “Anyway, you’ll meet him soon enough. Cap too.”

Darcy perked up at mention of the man she’d seen on television in the red, white, and blue. “Is that really Captain America or just someone you found to wear the costume?”

“It’s really Steve Rogers” Natasha said. “It turned out he was frozen in ice all this time. SHIELD thawed him out and he was good to go. He went riding on his bike, exploring the country or something like that. I’m sure you’ll get to meet him eventually.”

Darcy was both scared and excited at that prospect. She really did want to meet the one and only Steve Rogers to pick his brain about societal conditioning and how the New Deal had really affected the working poor back then. But she was scared that she might come off as some kind of fawning fangirl who he’d never want to speak to again. Well, there wasn’t anything she could do about it now. She’d just have to put on her big girl pants and deal with it when the time came.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Steve returned to the Tower about a month after he’d left. Turned out he missed New York, even as changed as it was. While he was gone, he’d contemplated giving up his place in Brooklyn. Sure, the borough was home, or it had been, but it really didn’t feel like it now. Besides, he’d only been there a week before the whole Chitauri thing, and it had been found for him by SHIELD, so it wasn’t really his. He was going to tell Tony he’d reside in the Tower permanently. Wouldn’t take much to move, he’d never gotten around to really buying anything for the apartment anyway.

He pulled his bike into the underground garage, guiding by blinking lights in the ground to a spot that was marked for him. Steve shook his head. Tony. He stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for his floor.

“Welcome back, Captain Rogers,” JARVIS intoned. “I hope your trip away was uneventful.”

“About as uneventful as they get, JARVIS. Saw some interesting things though,” Steve said. “It’s amazing how some things out there have changed so drastically while I was asleep, yet some things stayed almost exactly the same.”

“Sir is always fond of saying the more things change the more they stay the same, Captain.”

“Ain’t that the truth,” Steve sighed, leaning against the side of the car.

The car slowed down, the light for the ground floor blinking. The doors slid open and a young woman carrying a tray of coffee stepped in.

“J, labs if you please,” she said.

“Certainly, Miss Lewis,” the AI replied and they were on their way again.

They travelled in silence for a few minutes before she realized that Steve was there.

“Oh, uh, hi! Steve right?” she said, her cheeks turning a delightful shade of pink.

“Yeah, that’s me. Uh, thanks for not calling me  Captain,” he replied.

“No problem. You’re not him and he’s not you, two totally separate entities,” she declared. “Darcy by the way. I’d shake your hand but…”

“Thor’s Darcy?”

She laughed, full and rich and it went right through Steve, warming him. “Yeah, guess he told you the story of how I felled him with my box of lightening.”

“A few times. He said you were a fierce warrior and a worthy companion to his Jane,” Steve replied.

“Fierce warrior, I like that,” Darcy said with a smile. “Hey, come to dinner, I’ll introduce you to Janey. If I can wrangle her away from SCIENCE long enough to eat a proper meal. Everyone in the Tower comes to dinner when they’re here. It’s a team-slash-family kinda thing.”

“Sure, I’ll be there. It’ll be nice to see everyone after my trip,” he answered. The car slowed again, doors opening with a faint ding.

“This is my floor. Nice to meet you, Steve, see you at dinner,” Darcy said, walking out.

“Nice to meet you, Darcy,” Steve said as the doors slid shut once more. He was pleasantly surprised at how well that interaction had gone. First time since… well since Peggy he hadn’t been completely and utterly inept with a woman. Bucky would’ve been proud. He sagged against the wall, suddenly tired. Maybe he’d have a nap before he unpacked what meager things he’d brought on the trip. He sort of wanted to be fresh for dinner. Maybe if luck was on his side he’d continue to be smooth-ish with one Darcy Lewis.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Dinner had gone really well. Darcy had managed not to make a total fool of herself and actually started to get to know Steve. The next day he’d shown up at the labs with food for both her and Jane. Then he’d asked her to help him catch up with some pop culture stuff. It went on and on from there. They’d settled into a curious kind of flirty friendship.

About six months later, she woke up to find that one of her marks had come into focus. The words, well… they read like maybe, maybe Steve was her soul mate. Cause who the hell else compared a person to pin-ups? Who the hell else in her life knew what pin-ups even were? So unless one of her soul mates was a complete stranger that she’d run into on the street, all signs pointed to Steve. So what the heck would she say that would get him to say that to her?

It happened two days later, at team movie night. They’d finished watching Ferris Bueller’s Day off because Darcy was determined to show Steve the genius that was John Hughes.  No one had wanted to go to bed so they’d stuck around, just chatting. Darcy had finished a spirited discussion with Pepper about a certain senator when she looked over and caught Steve looking at her intently.

_“You staring for a reason, Cap?” she asked._

_Steve blinked, shaking his head before he answered. “Sorry, you just remind me so much of pin-ups,” he replied. “And also I think you’re my soul mate.”_

_Darcy grinned, bouncing off the walls with glee inside her head. But she had to ask. “Me too! So, tell me, do you have another mark too?”_

_“I do,” he blurted._

“What? What?” Tony spluttered, flapping his hands about uselessly. “Two? You both have two?”

Darcy glared at Tony. “So? Lots of people have two marks. Sometimes more. Are you seriously going to sit there and tell me that it’s immoral or illegal or something equally stupid like that? I thought you were better than that, Tony.”

“So did I,” Steve said with a frown. “Would you be this, this, this… whatever this emotion is, with me if I told you that Bucky was my soul mate from before?”

That sent the billionaire into even more incomprehensible squawks and random gestures. Bruce eventually was able to pull him out of the room. After that everyone quietly congratulated them on finding each other before leaving the two to talk.

“So, uh, you and Bucky, huh?” Darcy asked.

Steve nodded. “Yeah, we couldn’t tell many people because Captain America wasn’t supposed to have a soul mate you know? And it wasn’t exactly legal for us to be together, soul mates or not.”

Moving over to sit on the couch next to him, Darcy took his hand, squeezing it gently. “I’m sorry,” she said.

“Thanks,” Steve murmured. “He’d have loved you. Fiesty and fearless and stubborn.”

“That’s a very ringing endorsement. So, um, how do want to…?”

Steve smiled. “I’d like to take you out on a proper date first.  We’ll go from there,” he said. Darcy nodded, curiously watching as his expression morphed from unsure to happy back to unsure again. “Do you care? I mean, who our third is?”

“If you’re asking I want them to be a guy, gal, or other; then no. I kinda experimented a lot in college,” Darcy said.

“Oh, good, that would have been very awkward otherwise,” Steve said with a sigh of relief. “Can I kiss you?”

“I’d be very disappointed if you didn’t, Mr. Rogers. “ Darcy made a sound of disgust. “That sounded so wrong?”

“Why?” Steve asked, frowning.

“I’ll explain later,” Darcy replied, leaning in and tilting her face up to his. He leaned down, gently pressing their lips together. It was soft, slow, and oh so sweet. When he pulled back, Darcy let out a breathy sigh. “I should go to bed.”

“I’ll walk you to your room,” Steve said, standing and offering her his hand.

He did just that, kissing her again at the door. “Tomorrow night, seven good?”

“See you then, Steve,” she answered. She watched as he turned and left, salivating at the picture he made.  Having Steve Rogers as one of her soul mates was going to be a hell of a ride.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Over a year later

*~*

He’d known the mission. The mission had said those words. Words that echoed and bounced around in his head. ‘I’m with you til the end of the line’.  He knew those words. But he didn’t know why. Trying to think about those words hurt. He tried not to, but they haunted and teases him. He was remembering more. It had been too long since he was last in the chair. He’d ran. There were no handlers following him. No one was looking for him.

He’d found a safe house. Fixed his shoulder, taken something from a cabinet in a small room that said it would help with the pain. He’d eaten. Taken cash, new clothes, weapons. Another safe house, a day later supplied him with more cash, more pills, and a device that told him something called HYDRA was exposed. A man named Pierce was dead. It was his former handler. A fierce feeling of exhilaration and satisfaction ran through him.  If his handler was dead and no one was looking for him, he could rest. At least for a day.

He washed, scouring dirt and grime from his body with a sweet smelling liquid that stated it was body wash. He liked the feeling and the scent. He used scissors to cut his long hair. A motor powered razor to shave. When he was done he turned from the mirror above the sink to encounter a full length one on the back of the door. He almost looked away, but something caught his eye.

He had two nebulous blobs of grey on his body. The last time someone had made him look, his body had been unmarred except for the scarring around his metal arm.  One was on his right shoulder, the other over his heart. A vague memory of a similar mark, in the middle of his chest, came to him. He frowned. That mark had been words. He couldn’t remember what those words were, but he knew they’d been there. What had they meant?  What did these blobs mean? Shaking his head, he opened the door, exiting the small room to find clothing that would help keep him hidden. There was no time for thoughts like that. He needed rest before he ran again. He needed to remember. Remember who he was. Remember why the man who’d been his mission was so important. Why the words meant so much.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“It was Bucky.”

Those three words rocked Darcy’s world. Steve had finally come home from the hospital in D.C. (bringing Sam Wilson with him). After Darcy had hugged the ever living shit out of him, then yelled at him for not calling for help, they’d sat down to talk.

“Are you sure?” Darcy asked, knowing that Steve wouldn’t have said it if he wasn’t.

“I’m sure, Darce. He didn’t recognize me at first. But it was him. He saved me, pulled me from the river,” Steve explained.

Darcy squeezed his hand, trying to comfort him as best she could. “Do you think that he’s our third?”

“Maybe,” Steve said. He turned to look at her. Darcy wished she could kiss away the pain and the sadness in his eyes. “Would it be so bad if he was?”

“No, it wouldn’t, Steve. But we’d have to be strong for him, help him,” she said. “It sounds like he went through some physical trauma and if he was in HYDRA’s hands no doubt emotional and mental trauma too.”

“Whatever it takes. Even if he isn’t our third, he’s still…. I need to help him, Darcy. I need to find him,” Steve said, a little hitch in his voice that made Darcy want to go out there and kick all of HYDRA’s ass on her own.

“We will, Steve, we will,” she promised.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

James was standing on the sidewalk watching the building. No one recognized him. No one knew who he was. He was just another anonymous bystander on the streets of Manhattan. The building he was looking at was ugly. Not like the buildings he remembered from his youth. The scarred metal ‘A’ hanging at the top proclaimed to everyone who lived in the building.

The Avengers.

That meant that Steve lived there. Which James already knew (because he’d been sort of stalking Steve for the last month and watching the building for the last week). He remembered Steve. Who Steve was. It was important that he see Steve. The blobs on his body had become words now. James knew what the words meant. That he’d had Steve’s words on his body before. Steve had been his soul mate. Now he had two. He didn’t deserve them. Didn’t deserve Steve (who else would call him a jerk but Steve, the punk).

He wasn’t a good person. He’d done things, killed people. There was so much red on his hands. He could never atone for what he’d done while under HYDRA’s control. But he could pay the price if it meant he could see Steve just one more time. He moved from his spot, neither quickly or slowly; he didn’t want to arouse any suspicion. He walked around the very large block to the back of the building. He knew there was a garage there, guarded by a gate. He’d watched for two days as cars, trucks, vans, and even Steve on a motorcycle went through that gate. He’d watched them punch in numbers on a pad. James was pretty sure he could get the right sequence to get into the garage.

Approaching the gate slowly, he reached the pad, put in the numbers. The pad beeped a sour note. He tried again. This time the gate slid sideways and he hustled inside. Looking around he spotted the lone elevator. No keypad, no security. If you could get into the garage, you’d proven you belonged there apparently. He pressed the button, stepping inside when the doors pinged. As he agonized over which floor to push, a voice came from above.

“Greetings, Sergeant Barnes. May I suggest the eighty-fifth floor?”

James looked around, spotting a camera in the corner. “Who are you? You gonna kill me?”

“No, Sergeant, I am not going to kill you. You are quite safe here, I assure you. I am JARVIS, an artificial intelligence created by Mr. Stark. I run this tower,” the voice said.

“Stark? Howard is still kicking around?” James asked.

“Sadly, no, Sergeant. This is Anthony Stark, his son.”

James felt a wave of sadness overcome him. Howard had been a pretty okay guy. “Damn, that’s too bad.”

JARVIS spoke again. “I will take you to Captain Roger’s floor. He has been quite worried looking for you, Sergeant.”

“He here? I, uh, kinda need to see him,” James said.

“No, he is currently out, but I will let you into his quarters. Do you wish me to let him know you are here?” JARVIS asked.

“No! I, uh, I want it to be a surprise.”

“As you wish, Sergeant.”

The ride was short and JARVIS directed him to a room just to the left of the elevator when he got out. It’s opened with a click, so James stepped inside, giving a low whistle. “What did you fall into, Stevie,” he murmured. Now all he had to do was wait.

*~*~*~*~*~*

“So I said to Tony, you can’t do that, that’s how Skynet happened!” Darcy proclaimed.

Steve nodded as he opened his apartment door. “I’m glad you made me watch that movie so I can understand that reference,” he said, letting Darcy go in before him.

“Uh, Steve, we have a visitor,” she said.

He turned from closing the door behind him. Bucky was standing right in the middle of his living area. Bucky looked at both him and Darcy before smirking at Steve.

“I guess you finally found a way with the dames, punk,” Bucky drawled.

Steve’s heart nearly leapt out of his chest. “I learned everything I know from watching you, jerk,” he replied. He started to step forward, to go and hug his other soul mate when Darcy stepped in between them, putting a finger to Bucky’s chest.

“Who are you calling a dame?” she asked.

Bucky just grinned down at her, folding her finger in his hand gently. “You prefer kitten or doll, sweetheart?”

Steve finally stepped forward, enveloping both Darcy and Bucky in a hug. “I can’t tell you how happy I am that we’re all soul mates, Buck,” he murmured.

“Me either, Stevie,” Bucky replied. “Don’t deserve you, either of you. I’m not good for you.”

“Fuck that,” Darcy exclaimed, making Bucky chuckle. “You were brainwashed. That wasn’t you.”

“But I need to pay for what I did,” Bucky said. “Can’t avoid it.”

Steve reached up to cup Bucky’s cheek with his hand. “Don’t worry about it, Buck. It’s been taken care of, I promise. Tony’s had his best lawyers on the case. Any and all charges that might have come up have been dismissed. You were a prisoner of war,” he said. “Me and Darcy, we’re gonna get you the best doctors to help you through it all.”

“Really?”  Bucky asked, the expression on his face making Steve’s heart clench. “I can stay? I can have you? Both of you?”

“You can,” Darcy assured softly. “I can’t wait to get to know you. I want to hear all the stories about little Stevie Rogers going after bullies.”

“Oh, doll face, have I got stories for you,” Bucky said, grinning.

Steve let them go, watching as Darcy steered Bucky to the couch. He had his soul mates. He was looking forward to the rest of his life.

 

 

 

 


End file.
